Situated about thirty miles south of Amsterdam and Haarlem is Rotterdam,
the second largest town in the Netherlands, which has a population of
about 370,000. To some it is known chiefly as the home of the
illustrious Erasmus, who was born there in 1465. In the great
marketplace of Rotterdam there stands a fine bronze statue of Erasmus.
To merchants Rotterdam is known as one of the busiest import cities on
the Continent; as in its import trade it is exceeded only by Hamburg and
Antwerp, while its cattle market is the most important in Holland. There
is much life in Rotterdam, and plenty of entertainment to enliven the
visitor who goes there for other purposes than those of trade.
[Illustration: THE POSTOFFICE, ROTTERDAM]
Boyman’s Museum contains a most valuable collection of Dutch art, and
the churches, parks, and public ways are attractive and interesting.
Down at the large docks you will find busy scenes; at the Wilhelmina
Kade especially, where the great passenger steamers lie. You will meet
that name _Kade_ wherever you go in the towns of Holland. It means quay,
and the different thoroughfares distinguished by the name are either
quays or else have been quays in times past, and in the course of the
city’s growth have become streets with waterways in them.
You will be impressed with the vast multitude of bridges in Rotterdam. I
do not know that they actually exceed in number the bridges of
Amsterdam; but they appear to, for many can be seen from almost every
point of view. The service of the canal to Holland is manifold, and this
is true in winter as well as in summer. Over the frozen surface of the
canal children skate to school, women skate to their shopping, and those
who have time for recreation skim the icy surfaces from town to town in
skating trips.